Jean Quataert and Benita Roth

March 17, 2014

A recent special issue of the Journal of Women’s History on “Human Rights, Global Conferences, and the Making of Postwar Transnational Feminisms” (Vol. 24, no. 4, winter 2012) is the runner-up of the 2013 Council of Editors of Learned Journals Best Public Intellectual Special Issue award.

The special issue, co-edited by Jean H. Quataert, professor of history, and Benita Roth, associate professor of sociology and women’s studies, contains academic articles which assess the meanings for transnational feminist thought and action of the UN-sponsored world conferences on women and related international gatherings. It also features a UN activist forum in which four leading feminist activists from around the globe reflect back on their own political activism, assess what sustained their courageous work over so many decades, and offer their own projections about the future of the UN and transnational feminist advocacy.

The judges noted how well the publication met the criteria for its Best Public Intellectual Award in which “contestants must reach out beyond academe and connect with a popular audience in terms of accessible language and attractive presentation.”